Name

Naruto (c) Masashi Kishimoto

Name © fhclause

Beware if a black cat crosses your path,

As it carries a heavy burden and bad fortune.

It was when the lightning struck down the Earth that everything fell apart. Chaos had won. Heaven and Hell crumbled away and the bond between the Sky and Earth cracked into two. All the gods, angels and demons were pushed into the abyss and they were left with nothing but their bodies. Who they were, what they were, what they were supposed to be doing; all were devoured by the Black Hole.

Names.

What they need were names. Without a name, there would be no path to follow, no goals to reach, no life to be lived.

Then, Miracle descended from the Celestial World. She gave them her blessing, a little star of hope that shone so brightly the fallen creatures were given no choice but to open their eyes. When they did, Miracle smiled and told them this was not their end nor this was their beginning. They must continue from where they left off. They must continue to look after the humans. They must continue to protect the humans. They must continue to taint the humans.

Names.

Miracle said these purposes were temporary. This life given by her was a short one because without names, it was impossible to hold unto life. These purposes given by her could not be their reason to live forever; not until they can find their names.

And so with these temporary purposes and short life, the gods, angels and demons descended down to Earth to find their names.

(===================^v^======================)

Hinata rubbed her thumb on the green skin of the berry. How unnatural. It was almost winter and the berries were still unripe. She didn't think it would survive before the end of this season. In fact, most of the fruits in the forest were still green and the vegetables were slow on the growth. It happened a few months ago. It was not a conspicuous change and the villagers hardly noticed it until there was a great demand of food.

Hinata stood up. She had sense this. Why didn't she warn the people?

No. It wasn't a 'sense'. It was a dream. Flashes of ambiguous pictures could hardly be taken seriously. Even if she did go to the village, they would scorn her for being there.

Ever since she was a child, she had been ignored for being the quiet one. A pariah. As she grew up, she was feared for being so…ominous. People said she was the reincarnation of Nostradamus, the devil reincarnated with vengeance to end the world.

For being so different, it was a miracle how Itachi could harbour a sliver of feeling for her.

Ah, no. That would be insulting. It was love. He had loved her like how she deserved to be loved—in his words—and she had loved him like how happily he ate his favourite dango—in her words. They had a good life together.

After his passing, Hinata had moved out of the village. Being with him, she had known what peace felt like. He was a powerful figure and with his deep, dark eyes, he had kept the abuse at bay. She would keep the peaceful memory at that and would not let them taint it.

Hinata walked deeper into the forest. Living independently with lack of outer resources could be bad if she had no food to go on. She probably should have some fruits preserved for later if it was this hard to find edible food. Probably she should pick up some flowers on the hill too as a—

Hinata stopped. She listened.

The forest was quiet. Too quiet. There was no chirping of birds and the wind was still. Then she heard it again.

A jingle.

She moved through the bushes and gasped from the view in front of her.

"Oh no!"

A black cat was lying on the ground. Hinata rushed towards the little creature and she released a breath of relief. It was still alive. The cut was probably a deep one too, judging by the tainted soil underneath the cat. But it seemed that the blood flow had stopped as the fur around the cut had hardened by exposure. It must have been here long.

Hinata carefully scooped the cat, winced when it mewled in pain, and put him into the basket she was carrying for fruit picking. She held the basket in her arms rather than carrying it on her side and ran as fast and as smooth as possible to her cabin. She burst in into her home, softly putting the basket on the dining table and quickly ran to her drawer.

Hinata had only three spares of clothes. One, she was wearing now. The other one was still on the lining. And the clean one in the drawer was her favourite dress.

Itachi had bought it for her the day after their wedding day. The other cloths she had were either wet or dirty.

It would have to do.

Hinata took out the dress from the drawer, ripped the edge of the dress into small pieces and use the rest as a makeshift bed. She filled a bowl of water and started cleaning the cat's wounds. The cat did not stir but the shallow movement of its little black stomach reassured her that it was still alive.

After slathering a hand-made potion on the cut, she wrapped its wounded arm and covered the cat, just in case it felt cold. It must have an owner. There was a little round bell tied around the cat's neck. Probably that was the jingle she heard. How lucky the cat was. If it didn't have the bell with him, she probably would have never known it was there.

She hoped it would live.

(===================^v^======================)

Red eyes blinked slowly from the invasion of the bright light. There was a throbbing pain down his arm, but his head felt so heavy, he didn't have the will to move it. He closed his eyes again. The ground underneath him felt so soft and comfortable…

"You're awake."

He flinched and tried to stand up. Bad move. His arm burned from the pain and he growled.

"I'm sorry! Please don't move! I'm so sorry for surprising you. Just…don't move. Please."

Long fingers reached out for him and he hissed. He once again tried to stand up and instantly crumbled down to the floor when the pain in his arm retaliated. The long fingers curled into a soft fist from the corner of his eyes.

"Please wait here."

He almost chuckled. Wait here? He can't even stand up properly. His red eyes took in his surroundings. Where was he? In a building? A house? A human house? But how?

…The Remnants.

He remembered now. He was chased by the Remnants of Chaos. He growled again.

Names?

What good was it to have a name if you were going to get killed for it? The Remnants almost got him and if he didn't transform into what he was now, they probably would rip him apart. He cursed Miracle for giving him such a troublesome task. He felt so at peace when he was in the abyss. Why should it matter if he possessed a name or not?

"Here you go. I don't have much, but I hope you like it."

His red eyes moved from the human's face to the small plate she put near his head. It was filled with some white liquid. His eyes narrowed at it warily. Is that what the human called milk?

How plain white it was. It disgusted him.

"Aren't you going to have some? It's delicious."

His glare shifted to the human girl who was smiling gently at him. The tint of hope in her voice was reflected in her eyes. Her eyes. How white they were.

They disgusted him.

"I can feed you if you want."

He looked at her with disbelief. It probably looked comical when you have a snout for a face, but he couldn't help it. A human to feed a cat? How was she going to do that? How laughable.

He closed his eyes instead.

Then there was a nudge on his lips. His whiskers twitched. Then he felt it again. He opened his eyes with a glare. There was a metallic object across his line of vision with the accursed milk in the dent.

The metallic object was shoved further into his face.

His whiskers twitched again and he reluctantly stood up, careful not to put too much pressure on his bad arm. He sniffed the milk and dipped his tongue in it for a quick taste.

He decided he didn't hate it.

The milk, he meant.

The human was another story. She kept on shoving more milk to his snout and looked at him while he was lapping up the white substance. It was unnerving. Didn't she understand people—or animal—didn't like to be watched over when they were eating?

He ignored the fact that she was feeding him, so of course she had to look at him.

During night time, she fed him tiny pieces of cooked meat. He accidentally licked her fingers for several times, but he guessed she didn't mind because she giggled every time he did. Then, she changed his bandage and applied some more of those green liquid on his cut.

He liked that part the most. The green liquid was cold and soothing. The long fingers tending to his arm was tender and soft.

He stayed with her for more or less a week. She force-fed him every day, but after some time—because his patience was running thin and there was his pride he needed to maintain—he fed himself. She used less and less of that cold green liquid, but those tender fingers kept on soothing away the lingering tingle of pain near his wound. When his eyelids felt heavy, those fingers will rub somewhere near his ears. It always lulled him into a deep sleep.

She seemed to be happy at his fast recovery. In fact, after the fourth day, he was strong enough to move and run and jump around without making his injuries worse. He even decided to leave her then. But after the sun set down and the cloud darkened along with the sky, his little paws brought him back to the back door of the human girl's cabin.

He convinced himself it was the delicious smell of the food from the kitchen that brought him back.

He learned her name when one of the villagers visited her. Hinata. A sunny place. How befitting. Yet how contradictory. She always smiled so brightly he swore it shone more brightly than the sun does, yet she lived under the shadiness of the forest, far away from other people, far away from the liveliness of the village.

He also learned that her eyes were not fully white after all. They were tinted with soft lavender colour and the colour deepened every time she laughed. She always tilted her head when she made a point. She always poked her fingers together when she was flustered or embarrassed. When she blushed, her face was as red as tomato.

Not that he cared for all of these things. He was being forced to know all these because they were inevitable. She was a quiet person, but when she talked, it was so full of energy and dedication that he had to glare at her so she would shut up. But of course, humans can't understand cat's language. Instead, she giggled and asked him if he were hungry. No matter. At least he got to eat some food.

"Last night I dreamed about something strange," Hinata said, hanging some clothes on the lining. He was lying on the soft grass and his tail was whipping the ground lazily. His eyes narrowed in a relaxed way and they were slowly closing. His ears flickered when the wind blew. "It was different than usual."

Hinata always talked about her dreams. They were usually more of a nightmare than pleasant ones, but judging by her voice, she was happy.

"I saw a pair of eyes. They're so beautiful. They were deep rubies and they have some strange looking design on it, but…they're so beautiful."

Then something he didn't expect—rather, forgotten—happened. The bell tied around his neck jingled.

His eyes opened lazily and waited expectantly for another jingle. It didn't. His eyes closed again. But it seemed Hinata heard the soft sound because she turned around and tilted her head curiously.

"I'm curious. Why do you have a bell tied around your neck? Your master must be a strange one. Won't it be difficult for you if you decided to hunt for some birds or mice?"

Obviously, he couldn't answer her. But he could always mew at her as an answer. But damn if he would mew like a…cat.

Then, he felt something tickled his nose. Damn this woman. How dare she—

Hinata giggled when the black cat unsuccessfully pawed the catnip she waved in front of him. She waved the catnip again, and again, the cat tried to paw it.

"You're so cute, Mr. Cat." She stopped waving the catnip and the cat took the opportunity to capture it and nibbled the offending tip. When he realized she was not playing anymore, the cat rolled to its good side and looked at her. How unusual for a cat to have a pair of red eyes. Hinata smiled. "I always called you Mr. Cat, but I don't know your name. You must have a name, right?"

Actually, he didn't. He might have it once, but for now, he was nameless. He crawled closer to her hand and nudged her palm. If he named him, he didn't have to put himself into trouble just to go searching for one. It was the most convenient and easiest method he could think of.

Those long fingers rubbed him under his ears. "Do you think your master would mind if I name you? It's really weird to keep on calling you 'Mr. Cat', Mr. Cat."

Hinata giggled when she tickled under his chin and he purred like a content—cat. "How about Kuro? Black as your fur?"

He ducked under her tempting touch and looked at her with what she called as 'the sulking eyes.' He silently argued it was how he always looked. "No? Then how about…Bell? Because of the bell around your neck? Or Jingle?"

His whiskers twitched in annoyance. Was she this retarded in the creativity department? Then her eyes widened. "Oh! I called you Mister, but I don't know if you're a female or a male cat!"

What the— He glared at her and blatantly ignored the mirth of the situation she was solely enjoying. Of course she knew he was a male cat. He had been here for at least a week. She was not blind either. When she was still giggling, he turned away in annoyance. He shouldn't have encouraged her, that stupid woman—

The bell jingled again.

"Ah, wait! Don't tell me you're angry. I'm sorry."

He turned his head to look at her. Her face was still red from laughter, but she really looked sincere. The bell was incessantly jingling now and he shook his body, putting it to mute.

They were calling for him.

"Are you still angry?" Hinata called when the cat walked away again. He stopped and motioned his head to the high morning sun. Hinata blinked and followed his gaze to the bright light. "…You're coming back later? For dinner?" The cat somewhat nod and Hinata smiled. "Alright. I'll make something delicious for you by then. And maybe I have some good names for you too."

There was a soft huff from the cat before he disappeared into the horizon.

(===================^v^======================)

"Oi, bastard! You're late!" yelled a blonde man with whisker-like lines on his face.

The latecomer—who had dark hair and red eyes—rolled his eyes. "I'm here now, aren't I? It's not like Kakashi would be there on time if had I come earlier anyway."

The blonde man sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Uh…yeah… But! Sakura-chan just discovered something important about our names!"

The dark haired man blinked. Sakura, an angel, and Kakashi, a fellow Shinigami, were one of the very first fallen creatures to obtain their names. Sakura was the angel of Time and she had the power to predict the future. And Kakashi… well, he was assigned to become a senior tutor for the Shinigami squad just because he had a name.

Name.

Huh. Just because of that.

"Hey, what's that on your arm?" the blonde man asked, gesturing at something around his upper arm.

"Hn?" The dark haired man turned to look. He had actually forgotten about it. It was a cloth the human girl used to bandage his injured arm with. She always changed the bandage to new ones when she cleaned his wound, mainly with the fabric that looked suspiciously like his makeshift bed. When his cut had fully closed, she rolled another set of bandage over where his cut had been. "So the wind won't irritate it," she had said. He supposed he had never bothered about it after that.

The blonde man snickered. "Man, that colour looks so feminine on you. Did you develop some kind of strange hobby when I wasn't looking? Eh, bastard?"

"Shut up, idiot. It's…a… souvenir…or something…"

The blonde sputtered into laughter. "What kind of an answer is that? And since when you started stuttering like a girl?"

But the dark haired man ignored his friend and strolled passed him to the entrance door. There was a brunette with a pair of red mark on his cheeks and a silver haired man with his lower face covered waiting in the lounge. The brunette crossed his arms while silently cursed the two latecomers and the silver haired man raised his eyebrow at the blonde who still hadn't stop chuckling. The dark haired man sharply elbowed the blonde and there was a satisfying 'oof' beside him.

"Yo, Kakashi. Get on with it, will ya?" the brunette sniffed and looked sideways at him.

"Sakura had a premonition. She thinks she knew how to get our names. All of our names." Kakashi shrugged. "Or the Shinigami's, at least."

"Yeah? Tell us already!" the blond shouted when the Kakashi paused for too long.

The silver haired man raised his eyebrow lazily. "Easy. Just do what Shinigami do best."

"Huh?"

The dark haired man narrowed his eyes. "You mean rip humans' souls?"

"Yep."

"Just like that?"

"Yep. Just like that."

The brunette frowned. "Wait a sec. Why didn't we get our names when we ripped some human souls before?"

"Ah…that," Kakashi mumbled while pounding his fist on his palm in realization. "Actually, you can only obtain your name if you rip a certain human's soul. A human who you feel a connection with. You guys remember how I got mine? Well, I felt a connection with the boy who named me."

The room went silent. They remembered the first time Kakashi had gotten his name. It was an exhilarating moment and everyone was excited for him. Everyone asked him how he did it and he, reluctantly, told them he got it from a boy who only had one eye. The boy died from a boulder falling off on him. Kakashi had completely changed after that—not exactly a bad or a good change, though he was annoying at times.

"How do we know whose soul to rip? We don't exactly have a lot of time here," the blonde carefully asked.

Kakashi's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Well, Sakura just made it easier for you guys. She knows who to rip whose." Kakashi moved to a nearby table and handed each of them a covered file. "In here, are the details of the person you need to rip. Please read them carefully."

"What the hell?" the brunette growled and shoved the first page of the file to Kakashi's face. "This isn't a human. This is a puppy!"

"Your case is special. So be happy about it," Kakashi said.

The brunette snorted and looked at the blond. "Who did you get?"

The blond smirked. "Some weird old guy. It's his time I guess." Then he frowned. "Though it says here he dies from drowning. Man, does no one die normally anymore? Hey, bastard. How about you? Who did you get?"

The dark haired man didn't answer him, so the blond looked over his friend's shoulder and whistled. "Hey, she's cute. You sure you can rip the girl's soul off? She might—hey, you okay? You look kinda pale. Hey!"

The blond shook him and the dark haired man still didn't reply. He stood there, staring with wide eyes at the picture of the file. Kakashi grabbed the blonde's shoulder and nodded towards the door.

"I think you two should go now."

"But—"

"Don't worry. Just go."

The blonde frowned but he didn't argue. He squeezed his friend's shoulder and gave a nod to Kakashi before leaving the room. Even the brunette gave them a concerned glance. When the door was closed behind them, Kakashi glanced at the dark haired man before him. Sakura had warned him about this, though at that time, he didn't get it. But he guessed he knew now. He once worn that face before; when he learned that he had to rip off Obito's soul.

"What…is the meaning of this?"

"All living creatures will die one way or another. You know that."

Red eyes snapped open and glared at him. "She. Can't. Die. It's impossible."

"Humans—"

"She's too young! She's too young to die, damn it!"

Kakashi paused until the dark haired man recovered his breath. "It's her fate. It is what is written in the Book of Fate. We can't change that."

"Then let me see Fate."

"We can't."

"Then assign somebody else to do this."

"Your name—"

"I don't give a crap about names! I never give a crap about that! I don't care if I'm gonna disappear because of it! I don't give a damn if I'll live or not! I—" The dark haired man choked and slammed his fist on the table. His body shook from the gasp and the sob threatening to be released out of him.

"Do you know the reason why we can only receive a name from the person we feel most connected with?" Kakashi asked as he walked closer to the dark haired man. He looked at the picture of the girl his subordinate was assigned to. "It's because only with that name they are alive and with that name they keep us alive. Think about it."

He then walked out of the room.

(===================^v^======================)

Hinata inhaled deeply. Her heart had been fluttering for the whole day and she started to feel uneasy. She closed her eyes and shuddered when last night dream flashed in her mind. It couldn't be true, could it? It's impossible. She took another shaky breath. Maybe she should go out to the flower field today…

Hinata stood up and walked to the door. When she opened the door, she gasped from surprise. The black cat was sitting not too far away from the door. He was staring at her. Hinata smiled. "You're back. I was worried when you didn't come home last night."

The black cat kept quiet, like he always did. But even then, he would move his body or nudge her to indicate his understanding. This time however, the cat sat still, the glint in his red eyes flickered.

Red…

All the breath in her body was stolen with realization and she wobbled to lean against the door frame.

So, it was true after all. Today, she would—

"Hinata-onee-sama!" a voice yelled from downhill. It was her little sister. She came last week to see how she was doing and to give her some food. She looked happy then. But this time, she looked paler than usual.

"H-Hanabi…what are you doing here?"

Hanabi grabbed her sister's arm instead. "Onee-sama! Run! Please. Hurry!"

"Hanabi, what—"

"There she is!" Another voice, a harsher one called out this time. A group of men came into view and Hinata recognised them as the people from the village. Hanabi gasped and moved in front of her.

"Go away!"

The man who led the group, the same one who had called out just now, ignored her. "Uchiha Hinata. Leave this place immediately or pay the consequences."

"Eh?"

"It was you! You're the one who cause this!" yelled someone from behind the group.

"Silence!" The leader barked. He glared at Hinata again. "Uchiha Hinata, do what is best. Leave this place."

Hinata glared. "Leave this place? Why? Just because you say so?"

"Onee-sama!"

"I won't leave. This is my hometown. You can't make me leave."

"Why you—" Someone from the group stepped forward and raised his arm. But before he could hit her, a blur of black jumped onto his arm. "Yeow!" The man shook his arm hard and the cat was finally thrown to the ground.

"Mr. Cat!"

"Onee-sama! Watch out!"

"Sho, stop!"

Hinata turned and raised her arm just in time before her attacker could hit her face. Her wrist throbbed painfully and she cradled it in her other hand. Her attacker raised his arm again.

"Stop." A cold voice commanded while holding the offending arm in a vice grip. A pair of white eyes glared at the owner of the said arm. "Sho, if you dare to raise your hands on my cousin again, I'll break them into pieces that you swore you wish you don't have them."

"Nii-san!"

"Neji-sama!" The leader of the group rushed forward. He worriedly looked at Sho who was now crying in pain, trying to pry the strong fingers around his wrist. "Neji-sama…"

Neji flung off the limb from his grip and glared at the other man. "Ko-san. I thought I told you not to come here."

"I know, Neji-sama. But the people—"

"Leave. I'll take care of this."

"Neji-sama—"

"Leave!" Webs of veins emerged around Neji's eyes and temple. Ko flinched and quickly turned around, ushering the men behind him to leave the place. When they were gone, Neji turned to look at Hinata who was cradling a cat in her arms. He squatted to her level.

"Nii-san…why…?"

"Hinata-sama. I beg of you, please…leave this place."

Hinata's eyes widened in shock and she looked from her cousin to her sister. Their eyes were beseeching and pity glittered behind them. Her eyes stung and her face crumpled into something that she promised to never do again after Itachi's passing. "Why?"

"They…blame you for the famine."

Her eyes wavered. "But all I did…all I did was staying here. Is it so wrong? Is it so wrong, nii-san? To live somewhere you love to be?" Hinata shook her head. "No. I only look at it from afar. I love the village, nii-san. I'll never do anything to harm it."

"I know. I know and that's why—" Neji moved forward and wrapped his arms around his cousin's neck. The cat in Hinata's arms took the chance to slip away from them. "It pains me greatly to know that you won't be here anymore, but it pains me more to know you're dead. They're hunting for blood, Hinata-sama, and I don't want you to die because of it. Please… I don't want you to die."

Neji pulled away and took out a small pouch from his kimono and curled his cousin's fingers around it. "This money should be enough to last for two weeks. There's also a private address you can send your letters to, in case you need anything." He leaned his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you." When Hinata didn't say anything, he stood up. "Hanabi. Let's go."

Hanabi scampered towards her sister and wrapped her arms around her. "Please be safe," she whispered before following the older man back.

Red eyes watched the two as they walked back to the village. Even after they were gone from view, Hinata still hadn't move from where she sat. Her head was down and her shoulders were slumped in what he assumed in defeat. "You know this, don't you?"

The silence bestowed on her was unbearable. Such a final answer. "All I did was saved you. Shouldn't I save you? Should I leave you alone?" A little jewel of tear dropped from her eyes when she looked up at him. "Why does it have to be you?"

He asked himself the same question. He had cursed every single being who had the hand to drive his—and hers—life in such way. How ironic life could be? How cruel Fate was. Was Fate being cruel or merciful? Was it someone else who did it? For what purpose? Why a life just so it could be taken away later? Why life is so short? Why life is so long? Why life has to be so difficult? Why life has to be so dull? Why—

What is life?

Kakashi had said something that made him thought deeply about what life was. His and hers. The Book of Fate might have written whatever would happen in his life, and hers had already been decided. But words written on a piece of paper were as dead as the ink that curled around on a blank page of a book. He was different. He could do something what the Book couldn't do. He can give life to those words. He could give meanings to the dicta written on the Book.

He had feelings.

The cat turned around and went through one of the bushes nearby. His body puffed into soft black smoke and he changed from his cat form to his Shinigami one. He glanced back to the human girl who was quietly crying. He grabbed and tore the edge of his cloak. It didn't matter. His cloak already looked torn.

He changed back to his cat form, carrying the piece of fabric between his lips and walked back to the human girl. He nudged her knee when she didn't look up.

Hinata blinked and looked at the cat in front of her. He slowly rubbed his head on her palm when she put her hand on his head. "Is that for me?" she asked when he continued to rub his head. She took the cloth away from his mouth and looked at it. The cloth was as red as his eyes. She chuckled. She did not know if there was anything funny in the situation, but she chuckled. Hinata wrapped the cloth around her bruised wrist and looked at the cat again. "Thank you."

They stayed there for a long time, none of them bothered to move into the comfort and the warmth inside of the house. He was lying on the warm lap of the human girl and she took comfort from his presence. That was enough. The wind, the air and the trees; they blessed them with their presence.

Hinata suddenly shifted, scooped him into her arms and dashed down the hill. Her eyes widened from the view below. "No…"

There was ominous smoke came from the centre of the village, the angry fire slowly consuming and burning the house that happened to be in its path.

Hinata tightened her hold around him. "They're going to blame me for that too, you know," she murmured. "Neji-nii-san probably can't stop them this time." After a short silence, she looked at him with a smile on her face. "Can you come somewhere with me? I've always wanted to show you this one place, but I never had the chance to."

With those words, she ran deeper into the forest; her hold on him never weakened. The way she was carrying him reminded him of the first time he met her; the beginning of their relationship. But this would be their last; the end of their relationship. How such roads paralleled with each other, but have different destination at the end.

They arrived into what he thought a wonder of nature. A flower field. He never saw anything like this. He never knew flowers can grow so magnificently in one place.

If Fate never brought her to him, would he know about something like this? Would he care?

Hinata walked to the centre of the flower field and put him on the ground. She moved and crouched in front of him. She was caressing the petal of one of the flowers. "Do you remember? About the pair of eyes I saw in my dreams? I saw them again last night."

There was a buzz of noise behind them.

"They were so beautiful…but, they looked so sad."

He closed his eyes. The string around his neck was slowly squeezing him.

"I… don't want those eyes to be sad."

The noise was getting louder. "There! She's there!"

"I want them…him…to be happy."

Black smoke started emerging around his paws. The bell jingled as he slowly transformed. In his Shinigami form, he grabbed the jingling bell and pulled it off from his neck. A puff of black smoke surrounded his hand as it transformed into a double-bladed scythe. He raised his arms.

At the back, a pair of hands was pulling an arrow and a bow.

"Hey."

He flinched. A tear was running down his face.

"Can you…say my name?"

The string snapped and the arrow whistled straight towards her.

"Hinata…"

There was a smile in her voice. "Thank you…Sasuke."

The arrow stabbed her at the back and propelled her body forward. 'Sasuke' slashed the bond where the body and soul met, and Hinata fell to the ground.

"Did…did we did it? Is she dead?"

A man, the one who shot, walked closer and nudged the body with his foot. "Yeah. She's dead."

"We should burn her," somebody else said.

'Sasuke' snapped his gaze to the group of human behind him. Burn her? It wasn't enough that they killed her, and now they wanted to burn her? Was it written in the file? Was her body supposed to be ashes? He didn't know. He didn't have the will to read her Death file. But like hell if he was going to allow them to burn her body.

"Whoa! What the hell is that!" the man yelled, gesturing to the black smoke around the body.

"Leave."

"Wh-what was that?"

"It's the devil! Sho! Burn the body!"

"Leave!"

"I can't find the lighter!"

The black smoke darkened and was slowly surrounding the men. A pair of red eyes glinted behind it. "I said leave!"

They screamed and ran away from the black smoke. When they were gone, 'Sasuke' turned to the body of the human girl on the ground. He solidified and squatted on the ground. He turned her body so it could face the sky and gathered her hands on her stomach. His fingers went to her still warm cheek.

There was a small smile on her face.

'Sasuke' smiled back. "Thank you…"

(===================^v^======================)

"So, yeah! He bought me some ramen and after that he shared his ice-cream with me. He's a pretty cool, old guy."

"That still doesn't explain how you were named, Naruto."

Naruto shrugged. "He said it's a name of the hero for his book. I just took the name from that." He smirked. "But your story is pretty cool too, Kiba."

Kiba chuckled. "Yeah. That dog was pretty tough. I still have that biting mark he gave me!"

They laughed and stopped when the door creaked opened. "Hey bastard! You're late! Guess what? We just—"

Naruto walked closer and grabbed his friend's shoulder. "Hey, are you…crying? The hell happened? Hey! Bastard, are you listening? What—"

"Sasuke."

"Huh?"

"My name…is Sasuke. Uchiha…Sasuke."

I drew one of the scenes of this fanfic. Check my profile if you want to. Thanks for reading ^v^ and kindly leave review.